10.24am: Good morning and welcome to live coverage of David Cameron's first full Downing Street press conference since the coalition agreement was signed. It is also his first since the joint press conference with Nick Clegg in the Downing Street rose garden. Expect the tone to be very different from that sunny day in May when the prime minister's easy-going rapport with his deputy led to comparisons with a civil partnership in some sections of the media. Five months on, the mood is very different with the political agenda dominated by the extent and impact of the coalition government's cost-cutting programme. David Cameron is likely use the press conference to once more make the case for cuts to the public sector, as a review of government efficiency by the billionaire businessman Philip Green is published - cabinet office minister Francis Maude described the scale of waste uncovered by Green and his team as "staggering". Also likely to be on the agenda for Cameron today is Conservative thinking on student finance ahead of tomorrow's publication of the Browne review into university funding. Reports suggesting that Lord Browne is to recommend abolishing the cap on fees generated negative headlines for the coalition over the weekend. The press conference is scheduled to start at 11am.

11.07am: The latest is that there is expected to be a delay of 10 minutes or so before the conference starts.

11.25am: Still no sign of Cameron.

11.37am: Downing Street says the press conference will start at 11.45am. No explanation of what is causing the delay.

Linda Norgrove in a snapshot from her Facebook page. Photograph: Supplied

11.57am:David Cameron is up talking about the operation to rescue the British hostage in Afghanistan, Linda Norgrove. General Petraeus contacted Cameron's office to say a review of the operation has revealed she "may not have died at the hands of her captors" as thought. The belief is that a grenade detonated by the task force sent in to free her may have killed her.

12.01pm: He says "Linda's life was in grave danger from the moment she was taken". He says he's clear that the rescue operation was the best option available. "He [Petraeus] and US forces did everything in their power to bring Linda home safely," says Cameron.

12.04pm: Cameron thanks US forces for their "courage". He says statements made on Saturday as to how she died, which now appear to be incorrect, were made in good faith. The prime minister has spoken to Linda's parents.

He says he received the information conveyed by Petraeus reasonably early this morning. He then spoke to Linda's father.

"In the end this is an issue of a very difficult judgment," says Cameron. He adds there is "never any certainty" in a situation like this.

12.08pm: Cameron is asked whether there is any suggestion that US forces were reckless. He says: "We must get to the bottom of what happened, we only have sketchy information." There will be a joint British and US investigation.The prime minister is not going to draw any conclusions at this stage.

Petraeus "deeply regrets what happened, as do I".

12.10pm: Moving on to university funding the PM is asked whether the Lib Dems will have to compromise more than the Tories on university funding. "Everyone will have to compromise," says Cameron. If you want well-funded universities, people from poor families to go to university and institutions that compete with the best in the world then you need change, he adds.

12.12pm: Another question about universities. Sky's Adam Boulton asks what proportion of people should go to university. Cameron does not believe in top-down targets, he says, but wants to expand the range of people going to university.

In answer to the second part of the question Cameron says there should be a progressive element to fees but a pure graduate tax "doesn't work". European students would not pay it, for example.

12.13pm: Andrew Porter from the Telegraph asks if Oxford, Cambridge and other Russell Group universities would be able to compete with Harvard etc if they're restricted to charging the same fees as other British universities. Cameron says he'll have to wait for Browne's review. He believes we already have world-class institutions.

12.18pm: Gary Gibbon from Channel 4 News asks whether more pledges will be broken after the Tories reneged on their pledge during the election campaign to keep child benefit as a universal benefit. "Those are promises I want to keep," says Cameron. The BBC's James Landale says Cameron accused Labour of lying during the election over leaflets accusing the Tories of planning to scrap winter fuel allowance. They were lying, Cameron repeats.

12.21pm: Asked about whether the Labour target of 50% of people going to university led to people doing "Mickey Mouse courses", as suggested by Boris Johnson, Cameron dismisses the "sneering commentariat" who look down on such courses. People should be able to do the courses they want to.

12.29pm: Back to the hostage rescue, Cameron is asked whether he considered using British special forces. He says "Of course I asked a huge number of questions." That doesn't appear to be a direct answer. He says he went with the advice of Petraeus, who was on the ground and it would have been strange to overrule the advice of US officials. In response to another question he says this morning was the first time he spoke to Linda's parents.

William Hague will make a statement to the House of Commons on the matter this afternoon. The prime minister says Linda would have been in an increasing amount of danger as she was passed up the chain of terrorist command. She would "possibly" have ended up in Pakistan.

12.33pm: Talksport asks Cameron about Lord Tebbit's criticisms of the prime minister. The former Conservative chairman said the child benefit change was decided by cliques and also that Cameron was to the left of the public on cuts.

The prime minister says he cannot work out whether Tebbit is accusing him of being too leftwing or too rightwing. He doesn't expect the changes to have "universal acclaim".

12.36pm: The Guardian's Patrick Wintour asks whether the PM is being fair to Iain Duncan Smith. What is Duncan Smith getting in return for all the cuts to welfare?Cameron showers praise on the work and pensions secretary, adding "We have to do this if we want to make sure we properly fund our schools...our hospitals."

You cannot tackle the deficit without tackling the welfare bill, says Cameron.

12.39pm: Cameron is asked whether he would accept a European commission-led financial transaction tax. Transactions can very rapidly move off-shore, Cameron warns. He has previously said such a tax should be global.

12.41pm: "The coalition document is standing the test of time." Conservatives and Lib Dems "are trying to do, the big, right [I assume he means correct rather than rightwing] and difficult thing."

12.43pm: The Guardian's Polly Toynbee asks if businessman Sir Philip Green will save the state as much as he and his family have avoided paying the state. Cameron says she'll have to wait and see. "Some of the property examples will turn your head." He concludes the press conference by commending Green's report.

12.51pm: The late-starting press conference was understandably dominated by the news that Linda Norgrove, the British aid worker in Afghanistan, may have been killed by US troops attempting to rescue her. I am sure there will be more questions over the handling of the incident in the coming days. William Hague, the foreign secretary, will make a statement in the Commons later. Beyond that, there were a lot of questions on tuition fees but Cameron was not giving much away ahead of publication of Browne's review (due tomorrow). However, he did confirm he was opposed to a graduate tax but disposed towards a progressive element.